[[quoteright:310:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carrington_catfight.jpg]][[caption-width-right:310:[[WesternAnimation/AmericanDad They don't write female characters like they used to.]]]]

Imagine ''Series/{{Dallas}}'', but in UsefulNotes/{{Denver}}, replace Larry Hagman with Creator/JoanCollins, and throw in a few catfights and ''lots and lots'' of shoulder pads.

Once ''Dallas'' took off, Richard and Esther Shapiro created this series about oil families living in Colorado. which Creator/AaronSpelling produced. It initially focused on Krystle Grant Jennings being just married to oil magnate Blake Carrington, and her tempestuous relationship with the children from Blake's last marriage. The next season, Alexis, the wife from the first marriage, shows up and the fun really started.

Just as ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' would later top ''Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}'' in terms of FantasyKitchenSink, this show topped ''Dallas'' in terms of every SoapOpera trope the writers could think of (with [[AllJustADream one extremely notable exception]]).

The show had a spinoff, ''The Colbys'', but it only lasted a couple of seasons. ''Dynasty'' unfortunately didn't last much longer either.

To date, the first seven seasons so far have been released on DVD.----!Tropes shown on ''Dynasty'' and ''The Colbys'':

* AbsenteeActor: On the parent show, everyone but John Forsythe.* AndStarring: Bo Hopkins as Matthew Blaisdel.* YouFailHistoryForever: In reality, Moldavia (the country where the terrorist attack takes place) was part of the USSR and definitely not a monarchy.* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Fallon, late in season 5 (after having been declared dead and buried earlier on in the season). It turned out that it was another woman with a strong physical resemblance to her who got killed in the {{Cliffhanger}} car crash at the end of season 4; Fallon herself was inflicted with amnesia.]]** Also: [[spoiler: Steven]], who was thought to have been killed in an oil rig explosion.* BigScrewedUpFamily: Possibly a TropeCodifier.* BolivianArmyCliffhanger: A season of ''Dynasty'' ended with a terrorist attack on a wedding... long story... and everyone apparently all dead. The first episode of the next season was one of the highest rated episodes in that show's history. The resolution was that a couple special guest stars from the previous season were killed off.* CatFight: What this show is best known for nowadays.** The show's writers obviously had huge fun thinking up new venues for hissing, spitting, slapping fights between Joan Collins and (usually Linda Evans, but sometimes whichever other actress was being featured at the time, such as Diahann Carroll or Stephanie Beacham) at least once a season.* CliffHanger: Once a season.* EvilBrit: Alexis - played of course by actual Brit Joan Collins, whose cut-glass accent certainly enhances the character's EvilIsSexy vibe. * FishOutOfWater: Krystle, upon arriving to the Carrington household. Not helped by how Blake is quite {{Workaholic}}* FollowTheLeader: Deconstructed: while clearly inspired by Dallas (and Alexis clearly being their attempt to create a JR-type character) the show did managed to find its niche with strong female characters and featuring a gay main character. Ironically, as Dynasty leapfrogged over Dallas in the ratings, Dallas (having lost its main show runner) tried to ape Dynasty with an Alexis-type villain and casting Donna Reed as the new Sue Ellen. * GambitPileup: Well if half the cast is trying to manipulate things, this is inevitable.* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: The outfits were the ''piece de resistance'' as far as the 1980s go. Not to mention ridiculously expensive.** ImpossiblyTackyClothes: [[HilariousInHindsight In hindsight,]] the clothes also come off as this.* LongestPregnancyEver: [[spoiler: Kirby fell pregnant after being raped by Adam in the middle of the third season but didn't lose the baby until the middle of the fourth season, well over a year after the rape had occurred in real time. This was due in part to the fourth season (and Kirby's pregnancy) picking up right where the third season left off, despite the five month gap in between episodes]].* ManipulativeBastard: More than a few.* MrsRobinson: For much of the series' run, the fortyish/fiftyish Alexis was romantically paired with the noticeably younger (and hunky) "Dex" Dexter.* NiceHat[=/=]NiceShoes[=/=]HighClassGloves: as with PimpedOutDress, all these tropes are on display in multiple episodes.* NoBisexuals: Depending on what season and how it was written, Steven may or may not have had some genuine attraction to Claudia and Sammy Jo. [[spoiler: Not that it ever lasted. By the reunion mini-series he had settled down permanently with Bart Fallmont, a love interest from a previous season.]]* TheNthDoctor: Steven, due to MagicPlasticSurgery after [[spoiler: the explosion on the oil rig]].* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Fallon, after British [[TheOtherDarrin Emma Samms]] took over the role from Pamela Sue Martin. * OverlyLongName: Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan.* ParentWithNewParamour: Fallon is very, VERY displeased to see her dad has remarried.* PassiveAggressiveKombat: A staple of the show.* PimpedOutDress[=/=]CostumePorn: ''Dynasty'' was '''the''' leading example of this trope during its glory days, with all its female characters being encased in glorious, often over-the-top outfits and gowns by Nolan Miller. Joan Collins' shoulder pads became iconic.* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: Dynasty started out as a 3-hour TV movie.* PrettyInMink: ''Dynasty'' could well be in the top ten shows of all time in terms of furs. If combined with ''The Colbys'' it likely tops them all.* RichBitch: A TropeCodifier. Alexis is one of the most notorious in TV history, but actually about half the cast is like this.* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Again, about half the cast.* SexySecretary: Krystle was this to Blake, before marrying him.* ShouldersOfDoom: All the shoulder pads.* SoapOpera* SomethingElseAlsoRises: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMTQrn7C1yI The opening credits]] are spectacular in this sense, with all the men being represented by skyscrapers, oil gushers, fountain and foaming champagne bottles.** Interestingly, Ted [=McGinley=], Rock Hudson, and Cassie Yates are represented by horses.* StraightGay: Steven. In particular demonstrated by his penchant for getting into fights with some of the other guys on the show, especially his brother Adam. He possessed no stereotypically gay attributes, which was fairly notable for a show that aired during TheEighties.* SweaterGirl: About as common as the furs on that show.* WhamEpisode: Several, but the most famous is Alexis' dramatic courtroom introduction at the end of Season 1.** Fallon being [[spoiler: abducted by a FLYING SAUCER in the desert]] in the final episode of ''The Colbys'' has to be a close second.